1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an improved protective case for a portable, or laptop, computer. In particular, the invention relates to a protective case in which the computer may be kept during transport, storage, or use.
2. Background Art
The personal computer has greatly enhanced the ability of individuals to perform a variety of chores requiring numerical calculations or logical decisions. Some of the common chores in this category include word processing, spreadsheet calculations, manipulating databases, computer-assisted drafting, transmitting messages, data acquisition, and the like. While small enough to fit on a desk top, such personal computers are too bulky for convenient transporting for use at various locations. The computer industry has conquered this problem by producing a computer that is approximately 12 inches wide, 91/2 inches deep and 2 inches high. At that size, it may properly be called a portable, or laptop, computer. The industry has also produced even smaller portable computers, typically called notebook, sub-notebook or palmtop computers. The principal advantage of such portable computers is that they may be carried to and used at whatever location their computing capacity is needed by the user. This may be termed field use, which frequently imposes severe physical abuse on the computer.
Although manufacturers of portable computers have endeavored to make their products durable, most portable computers are not sufficiently durable to withstand physical damage that may be encountered during transport and/or use. Cases incorporated into the design of portable computers are typically made from plastic moldings. The complex shape needed to accommodate the various internal components of the computer, and the connectors for external cables, and the like, dictate that the plastic must be readily moldable. These same considerations dictate that the plastic selected for the case must be dimensionally stable over an extended period of time. Among common engineering plastics, those plastics meeting the above requirements tend to be somewhat brittle. As a consequence, dropping an unprotected portable computer onto a hard surface may break its case and/or damage its internal components. The imaging screen is particularly susceptible to breakage.
Recognizing the vulnerability of portable computers to damage by dropping them onto hard surfaces, owners of portable computers began to use protective carrying cases. The first such cases were nothing more than attache cases or fabric bags. These cases did facilitate carrying a portable computer (and accessory devices such as connecting cables, external modems or disk drives, and the like), but they didn't offer much protection for the computer. Because an obvious need for better cases for carrying portable computers existed, an industry for producing such cases has emerged.
The art of designing and manufacturing protective cases for portable computers, as of the early 1990s, is represented by the teachings of Marceau (U.S. Pat. No. 5,160,001) and Hollingsworth (U.S. Pat. No. 5,217,119). In general terms, the protective cases described in these two patents provided means for supporting a portable computer within the case, by means of straps or slings, and means for isolating the computer from handling abuse by stiff panels, cushioning material, and pockets for carrying accessory devices and/or papers. Such cases proved effective in protecting portable computers, and a variety of improvements soon followed.
Some representative improvements are given by the teachings of Golenz et al (U.S. Pat. No. 5,494,157), Hollingsworth (U.S. Pat. No. 5,524,754), Shyr et al (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,678,666 and 5,762,170) and Vermillion et al (U.S. Pat. No. 5,725,090). Each of the cited patents teaches that the computer must be withdrawn from the protective case before it is used. Golenz et al provide a side accessible compartment for the computer. Shyr et al provide a front accessible compartment for a computer within a suitcase or briefcase. The other patents describe top accessible compartments in their protective cases.
Another direction in which improvements in protective cases were made is the incorporation of provisions for peripheral devices for computers, notably for printers. Chang (U.S. Pat. No. 5,214,574) and Fleming (U.S. Pat. No. 5,647,484) teach such protective cases, each designed to house both a computer and a printer. In the protective cases described in these two inventions, the computer may remain partially within the case during operation; however, the imaging screen extends outside the case during operation, and this component of a portable computer is particularly vulnerable to damage.
Still another direction in which improvements were made is designing the protective case such that the computer can remain inside the case during operation. Held (U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,338), Song (U.S. Pat. No. 5,682,993) and Alexander (U.S. Pat. No. 5,835,344) have devised such protective cases. In each of these inventions, a specific portable computer and a dedicated protective case are specifically designed to function together. Neither the Held patent nor the Alexander patent describes a generic protective case that could be used with a wide variety of portable computers. The Song patent purports to describe a generic protective case, but a careful study of the teachings therein indicates otherwise. The elastic flaps for accessing cable connectors and battery compartments must clearly be tailored for the locations of those features on each computer for which such a protective case might be made. Also, Song specifically teaches that the arrangements of clips used to retain the computer within the protective case must be mated to corresponding features on the case of the computer itself. However, the most serious problem with Song's teaching concerns the probable inoperability thereof. In mechanical engineering terminology, the upper and lower trays of Song's protective case and the upper and lower portions of the computer itself constitute a four-bar linkage. The four bars are connected by the retaining clips and two hinges, one at the rear of the protective case and the other within the computer itself. If these elements are dimensioned in according with the closed aspect of the computer and the protective case, it is physically impossible to open the case without moving the rear of the keyboard portion of the computer housing from the rear of the lower tray of the case and without moving the rear of the display screen portion of the computer housing from the rear of the upper tray of the case. This is the essential nature of four-bar linkages having links of different lengths. This essential consideration, not addressed anywhere in the Song patent, is an important feature of the present invention.
Hollingsworth (U.S. Pat. No. 5,607,054) has described a folio carrying case for a portable computer. When closed, this case protects the top and bottom, and front and back surfaces of a computer. It provides minimal protection to the left and right sides of the computer. When opened, this case offers no protection to the lid of the computer, which is particularly vulnerable to damage, should the computer slide from the user's lap during operation.
Chuang (U.S. Pat. No. 5,826,770) discloses a protective case that includes an inner tray. During transit, the inner tray nests inside the bottom of the case, and provides a storage compartment for the computer and accessory devices. To set up the computer for use, the inner tray must be emptied, turned over and replaced inside the case, and the computer then installed on what was originally the bottom surface of the inner tray. When the computer is no longer needed, the procedure is reversed. This is a significant inconvenience for the user of the computer, because it affects the user every time the computer is put into, or taken from, the protective case.
It is believed that the protective case for a portable computer, as set forth herein, is neither taught nor rendered obvious by the prior art cited above.